Movin to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches….

Category Archives: The old house

Herro! So it dawned on me last night that we haven’t spoken in a while, yet again. So lemme get you up to speed without all the usual verbal diarrhea:

The old place is SOLD! After a lil false start shortly after I last posted in which I had an offer and then it all fell through, three months after my last update it was a goner. The new people are really lovely and a perfect fit for the community.

I’ve moved out and am currently residing with the mother parental unit

I’ve been madly looking for a new plot of land to build my house as the previous dot point is going swell….

I shouldn’t really complain as it could be a whole lot worse but we’re both so used to having our own space and being boss of the castle and I miss having my own space.

I think I may have found somewhere to build! I’m going to have a second look next week so I hope to have an exciting update shortly. I’ve already had a chat with the bank and I’ve been given the green light so I think it’s just a matter of putting on the haggle hat and getting a good price.

So many things swirling round my head with the potential of this new place, so many things I need and want to do!

Poor lil neglected blog! It’s been positively ages, my apologies, hope you didn’t miss me too much. Things have been super hectic in the last month. Spent a week packing and shifting my stuff into storage and am now ensconced back at my Mum’s house. While I was moving I had some odd moments of looking at all my things after playing a massive game of tetris with them in my storage unit and just feeling really strange that my “life” fits in a 3m x 3m box. As I was talking about in the previous post, the things that define who I am and what I’m about. Pare that all away and it’s just me 🙂

It’s always weird being back with the parental unit but it’s different this time and in all reality I have it pretty good so I have no complaints. Probably the only one is that I miss being alone 🙂 So the house is sold, the money’s in my bank and the new house owners have moved in. Hope they’re enjoying it and are immune to incessant irritating dog barking. I’m enjoying the peace and quiet at my Mum’s. Only thing bugging me there is the carport gate banging in the wind but that’s nothing that a lil foam tape won’t fix!

Other than that just been busy with work work work. And now on to the housey stuff! A friend sent me a link to a straw bale house builder that I hadn’t come across yet:

I really like their philosophy and will probably give them a call to see what we can do. Reading their website has made me start seriously thinking about what I want my house to look like and get down to some of the nitty gritty details.

ooooh which reminds me, did I mention that I’ve found my dream bit of land? 40 mins away from work, mostly bush with a little bit of cleared land and with a giant stretch of river. BUT there are two problems…. 1) they want more than what I want to pay for land (although there are existing unapproved “house” structures on it that I could live in which are actually glorified sheds) 2) they may not accept my offer as it’s on the low end of their price range and c) I may not be able to build my house on it. I went to have a look at it last week and it’s glorious. Very hard not to fall in love with it. I’m going to have to talk to the council to see whether it’s eligible for building approval because the way the agent was talking made it sound like it would be tricky. Not sure why as there are other houses in the valley. The sheds are livable as the current owners have been living in them for the last 9 years but that’s not my “forever home” ideal. So if I can’t build there’s that property out the window 😦 And if I can then that means that I’m going to have to wait a few years before I can afford to build as it’s over my land budget and eats into my house building budget. So… we’ll see….

So I’m about 3/4 packed up… 6 days to go til I have to be out. Just the big furniture things which the movers are taking to storage on Thursday. I’ve been taking boxes of stuff over there already and there’s 43 boxes of stuff lined up against one wall like a giant Tetris puzzle. Funny how when you look at a wall of a boxes and think that it contains your “life”. In a way it’s just stuff. Things that when I look at they make me happy. As I’ve been packing my stuff it’s given me a lot of time to think about the things I’m packing and why I’m keeping them. I do have a hoarding trait but it’s because of my upbringing. Since I was born, this is my 18th move (I think, and not that I remember all of them of course). But I’ve become a pro at moving in a way. And it’s partly the reason that I want my land and to build my house. To plant MY roots. I’ve never felt like I belong anywhere, that anywhere felt like HOME.

When someone asks you “where are you from” how do you answer? The place you’re born? the place you grew up? Your hometown? For me it’s not an easy question to answer. I was born in a foreign land that my parents lived in for a few years, growing up I never lived anywhere for more than 3 or 4 years until I came to Australia when I was 13. And my hometown is the place I live right now by default because it’s the place I’ve lived the longest. I don’t have any affinity to this place other than that. So I guess my quest for land and to build a house on it is in a way my quest to stake a claim in this world and make it mine. And hopefully something that my children will think of as theirs. The future is uncertain but it’s something I hope they will feel.

When I look at the things I’m packing, a lot of them have memories attached and I think that’s why I hold on to them. Because growing up and moving so much I was never allowed to keep things. I feel silly for holding on to two boxes of Barbie stuff but the feelings that are attached with that stuff are so intense that I don’t want to let go of them yet. It’s memories of my childhood and the place I was when I used to play with them every day for hours on end and make clothes and furniture for them. There’s like a golden movie haze that I associate with that time. My Dad built me this giant Barbie house and I was SO thrilled to have it. I remember sneaking down to the basement to watch him build it and wish he’d hurry up so that I could put all my Barbie furniture in it and start playing with it. Like a lot of my childhood toys I don’t remember what happened to it but I can see it so clearly and still treasure it whenever I look at my Barbie stuff.

I guess packing up your stuff stirs things up. Makes you evaluate your life and your “things”. Makes you remember the memories attached to certain items. Funny but I miss my stuff already even though I know it’s all in boxes in a storage warehouse. But the things I own make me happy and dare I say it, define me. They make up my past and present. So with them all locked up in boxes in a warehouse it’s freeing and saddening at the same time. Because it is just stuff and life is made up of more than that.

Anyway I’m insanely tired and as you can read, probably over emotional. Just another step in the journey. More ranting and housey stuff another time.

3 weeks TODAY til I have to be out of my house! How on earth did that happen so quickly? Who’s been fast forwarding time eh? Fess up! I’m a little bit at panic stations now… I’ve been slowly getting stuff sorted but I think I need to kick it into high gear now or else I’m not going to make it in time!

I’m starting to come up with the vision for my new place. I’ve got an idea that’s rumbling around in the back of my mind, marinating in creative juices. I’m not totaly sure that I want to voice it yet purely because it’s not very clear to me yet, I’m not just trying to be coy. But rest assured that I’ll spill the beans once I’ve totally worked it out (and also whether it’s actually a viable idea and not just a romantic notion).

And now I need to get down to the nitty gritty details on what I want my new house to look like because my feeling that the right bit of land will come up when I’m actually financially ready to buy it could mean that I’ll find something in 3 weeks! Yes, yes I’m an optimist 🙂 Dreaming of all the tiles and taps and carpet and curtains. I’ve got a vague floorplan worked out but I need to talk to some professionals to firm up my ideas. But all the other details need to be attended to as well. Truely exciting (and keeping my mind off packing!). Feel a bit like Alice’s white rabbit!

The house is sold!! 9 days after listing and I’ve received an offer of my magic number! I’m in a bit of shock to be quite honest as I didn’t quite expect it to be so quick but I’m happy. Gotta keep pinching myself to make sure it’s real.

And now the real hard work starts – packing! I spoke to the storage company that I’ve used before to see if they have any units available and not only do they have some available but they’ll give me a $35 per month discount so I’m pretty chuffed with that! I think I should buy a lottery ticket ot something the way I’m going today. I spose it is full moon today and I really thought it was going to be a bad one as its been pretty intense so far. But nope, it’s turned out pretty darn well! Hope your day has been as great!

Got my first offer on the house yesterday! But… too low 🙂 I’m pretty impressed considering it was exactly one week from being listed so I’m pretty confident that I’ll get my magic number. And hell if the place hasn’t sold in 2 months I’m happy to revisit if the offer is still there. But was just a lil chuffed that I actually got an offer in the first week. The last property I sold took 3 months to get an offer but circumstances are different this time and I think that the “I can’t wait to sell this place” energy helps. While I was painting last week I nearly went insane with the neighbours dog barking ALL DAY. And I don’t just mean on and off but ALL DAMN DAY! By 3pm I had to put my headphones in because I was gonna go positively bonkers.

Just reinforces why I’m doing this really. Was doing some more lunchtime reading on straw bale houses because I was thinking of doing a building workshop and came across these people who suggest hosting a workshop on your property to help build your place: http://glassford.com.au/main/click-for-workshop-menu/custom-workshops-examples/ what a great idea! That would certainly help with the labour costs. And part of their conditions for hosting is that you do one of their workshops so that works out well for me! I’m gonna have to start dreaming up a floorplan and all that fun stuff soon.

EEEEEKKKK!! Just realised it’s been ages since we’ve last spoken. SO much happening at the moment so I’m sorry for the lack of updates! I’ve been madly fixing up my house, finishing all the last minute things that I’ve been meaning to do but haven’t quite gotten around to doing since I moved in last October. I spent the last week touching up the paint in the patio out the back, finished planting new plants in the front and hortichipping it all so it looks really nice and tidy now. Had to paint the entrance hallway and front railing too so it’s looking pretty good now. I had to declutter in the extreme for the photographers who came a week ago and even then they took stuff out so it was pretty bare. Not that I have a lot of clutter but they want it bare bones for some reason. In some cases I think it looks too bare but oh well as long as it sells!

AND dun dun dunnnnnnnnn it was listed last Monday! The photos make my place look AMAZING!! And on the first day there was already enquiries for the contract for sale which my agent sent out and there were 600+ views since it was listed at lunchtime. Today, a week later, its 2344 🙂 Had a really successful open house on the weekend with 30 groups coming out and 5 more contracts sent out so it’s certainly getting a lot of interest. And scarily enough I’ve just had a call from my agent who wanted to show someone around this afternoon who didn’t get to see it on the weekend and clearly can’t wait for next weekend’s open house! Speak o the devil and he calls you up haha. With all the interest I’ll hopefully have an offer of my magic number soon! Keep your fingers x-ed for me.

Clearly I didn’t get around to making the lemon marmalade as I’d planned to either but might give it a crack this weekend after the open house. There’s also a high protien gluten free bread recipe that I want to try out. http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-bread/ Looks really yummy and appeals to my tastebuds with the almond and coconut. /me drools… can you imagine the fresh bread straight out of the oven with a slathering of lemon marmalade?? mmmmmmmmmm. There’s also another property that I really like that I might go and have a squiz at on the weekend. It ticks all the boxes but looks like it’s about 10 minutes out side the buffer zone so…. might not be THE one.